FLAGSTAFF, AZ – A new era for live music begins in our little mountain town of Flagstaff, Arizona. Our landmark downtown music and entertainment venue, The Orpheum Theater, installed a completely new Public Address System (sound system) in March of 2020 just before closing temporarily due to the pandemic. Working with Sound Image Inc., an audio production and touring support company based in Phoenix, The Orpheum chose a brand new, state of the art sound system manufactured by Eastern Acoustic Works that will be customized and fine-tuned to the size of our main house. The Orpheum is the first theater in the United States to have this EAW system.
What this modern system means for The Orpheum’s guests is higher fidelity sound for all genres of live music at every show and film screening. It also means The Orpheum Presents, LLC – the business operation at the theater – will be able to attract more nationally-known talent to play regularly in Flagstaff as their tours take them through the Southwestern United States.
“Flagstaff is a town whose citizens take art, especially live music, very seriously. With this remarkable technological upgrade to our 103 year old venue, the live music industry will start taking Flagstaff very
seriously,” said The Orpheum’s marketing director, Stephen Pelligrini.
After a year of research and in-depth inspection of the venue’s current rigging for the aerial speakers, and sound engineers, the first steps of removing the old Public Address speakers, processors, and other equipment began the week of March 16, 2020. The new system was fully installed and tested by Friday March 20, with additional tuning of the system stretching into 2021.
“With this new system, we’ll be moving away from conventional speakers to a line array system. With the sound from stage balanced throughout the house, the music will sound as good heard from the balcony or the lounge as it would on the floor,” added Orpheum Production Manager Scott Jensen,
“Let me put it this way, with 5 four-channel amplifiers producing 2500W per channel, our system now
produces 50,000W which will fill the entire room with high fidelity sound.”
The current PA system tops out at about 18,000W.
Technical specifications of the new public address system include:
12x EAW KF810P 3-Way Dual 10″ Line Array Elements
12x EAW SB118P Single 18″ Subwoofers
5x EAW UXA4410 2500W 4 Channel Amplifiers
4x EAW RSX129 12″ Two Way Speakers for Front Fill
1x LAKE LM44U, Audio System Processor
The Orpheum Theater in downtown Flagstaff is independently owned and operated, and is open year-round to host live music, film screenings, and community events. Built in 1917, the Orpheum operated for much of the 20th Century as a movie theater, closing in the late 1990’s as more modern theaters opened in town. The Orpheum was remodeled and reopened as a live music venue on New Year’s Eve 2002 by a group of local investors. The current Public Address system was also manufactured by Eastern Acoustic Works in the mid-1990’s, purchased secondhand and installed at The Orpheum in 2006.
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Please direct all media inquiries to our Marketing Director, Molly Baker at marketing.orpheum@gmail.com